by Julian Wood
Worth: $18.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Pio Marmaï, Jonathan Cohen, Noémie Merlant, Mathieu Amalric, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet
Intro:
Sweet, funny and clever.
French filmmakers Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache (The Intouchables, C’est la Vie) obviously care about issues such as inclusion, poverty, social justice and sustainability. However, they never let these weighty concerns get in the way of telling a good yarn, whose prime motivation is to entertain. Their films are usually well-cast and fast-paced and full of the understanding that humans are not perfect. This one manages to balance comedy and romance in a very winning way.
The main theme here concerns our addiction to toxic levels of overconsumption. This way of being might rescue the illogicality of consumer capitalism, but it ignores the very real ecological limits that we should pay much more attention to.
After neatly skewering the platitudes of generations of political leaders, the pair (who co-write and co-direct) take us to the shopping mall. Here, we see people (us basically) reduced to the bestial struggle for consumer goods as the department store sale opens and the scrum for bargains takes hold.
The film’s main characters are the chirpy Albert (Pio Marmaï) and the lugubrious Bruno (Jonathan Cohen). After a disgusting and hilarious meet cute, they realise that they are both chancers, whose keen eye for the angle should make for a profitable alliance. They even attend a workshop/encounter group in which a sort of anti-consumptionist guru called Henri (a fine cameo from the great Mathieu Amalric) tells shopaholics how to beat their addiction. He also has elements that make his position largely fraudulent, which adds to the fun. Later, Albert and Bruno stumble across a young eco-warrior going under the code name of Cactus (Noémie Merlant). She is part of a leftist group that spends its time planning Extinction Rebellion style stunts in Paris. Albert and Bruno go along for the ride, and Albert in particular hopes he can parlay his newfound ecological affectations into a romance with the trusting and earnest Cactus.
There is a nice mix of comic styles here; a combination of sight gags and situational humour and it is backed up by likable characterisations. Nakache and Toledano’s The Intouchables was a genuine break out hit around the world. This one isn’t quite as perfect as that top notch effort, but it is a close second. As noted, this is not a message film, unless of course the message is a gentle examination of human foibles underpinned by the core value of love. Sweet, funny and clever.
